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England win the day!


watcher

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We'll win the cup again through sheer English grit and determination mixed with a little stiff upper lip. Who cares how? we are the champions.....respect where due....I've a feeling SA will make the same mistake as the Aussies.
You see, this is the type of thing that grates, it's not the honest patriotism, but the dishonest misplaced slant on events...

Emmzy, at least you have the best rugby avatar :lol: but I'll have to disagree on a couple of points...

Yes England may still (for another few days at least) be World Champions, but since winning in Australia fours years ago, they've been quite possibly the worst World Champions ever, an embarrassment even in the way they've disrespected that title. I don't know why Woodward left so soon, but from the moment that last-gasp Wilkinson drop-goal went over (and yes, I admit I leapt up cheering ;) ) it's almost as if they said "that's it boys we've done it, let's just sit back and live off the glory" with the result that as a team they've stagnated over the last four years. "Respect where it's due"??? I think the boot's on the other foot.

Much as I have a lot of time for Mike Catt, that most English of South Africans, he had no business being in the last England World Cup squad never mind this one. A great player and I guess he deserves his place, but that fact alone shows the dearth of talent available and coming through. Every other nation has moved on, they evolve, a constant effort to strive and improve themselves. Look at Argentina and Fiji. The All Blacks for all their choking, every tournament always take the game up a level, setting the bar for other teams to look at. It's not as if England don't have the talent, the sight of Robinson dancing through the middle is a joy to watch, and not since Guscott have we had a player with such elegance and pace, but he's an anomaly in this current team and is retiring anyway.

Let's be honest, England have scraped to the Final again by a combination of luck, the draw opening up for them, and a failure of their opponents to play anything like their normal game. We should be grateful for that.

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Though I am an English bloke and I would like to see them win. TBH, winning the footie was okay (but football is a bunch of tosh anyway) though for me the best bit is getting a few scoops down with the lads and shouting at the telly. Keep the aggro where it belongs, on the field. Personally, I would love to see Hurling get more International :D now thats a sport

Edited by chronology1066
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I also love beautiful football, and would love to see England win with talent and verve over South Africa. But I wouldn't actually cheer against them if not, because they didn't.
Talent and verve? Oh dear. You see, I'm more a fan of the game itself, and like to see it played well. That means a South African victory. I won't actually cheer England losing but I will applaud great play and if that comes (as it will) from the Boks, then so be it.

OTOH, that's something very British, for all your Irishness. We are a strange people, who love to whinge and moan even when we win. :p
Oh believe me, the Irish do self-serving melancholy better than anyone ;) The English mentality is I agree to whinge and moan, but rarely does that come packaged with the word 'win'. In fact, it's a curious mix....England rugby and football teams seem to think they have some almost-colonial god-given right to win (invented the sports etc.), which is arrogance....arrogance breeds overconfidence....overconfidence breeds poor performance....and poor performance breeds failure.

@DBR in the previous response: Right. I grant you I know very little about rugby as compared to football, where I can stand proudly next to any man, in terms of knowledge, analysis, and feel for the game. But I'll be damned if I'm called jingoistic just because I'll be painting my face red-and-white, wearing my tightest Three Lions shirt (having no Roses), and jumping up and down like a fool, singing Jerusalem at the top of my voice come the 20th. All I care is, England are in the final, and there's no shame in being proud of being patriotic, long confused with nationalism by those leaning sinister politically.
I've never said it's wrong to be patriotic, I just said it's wrong when it's misplaced and disrespects other nationalities. I have friends who are true and knowledgeable club rugby fans ('in the water' where I now live) and they hold similar views to me on this. I suppose I just have a problem with jingoistic glory-seekers (jingoistic means extreme/aggressive so the cap fits), you know those Daily Mail or Sun-reading types who come out of the woodwork with their face paint and "Jonny Wilkinson is God' t-shirts, when all's going well but are nowhere to be seen cheering "our boys" on when they were being written off or being humiliated 36-0. Fair weather fans, glory hunters, 75% of Chelsea fans, Tony Blair etc. (I wonder if Gordon will make some diplomatic comment?)....they just make me nauseous.

Besides, I'm over here, and you're over there. It's different. What embarrasses you, reminds me of all I treasured and betrayed by leaving. So take that and stuff it up your (no doubt very cute little) nostril.
Spoken like your typical Home counties ex-pat. Treasured? Betrayed? Oh come on. You'll have me in tears soon :cry::lol: Anyway, don't assume you have some sort of monopoly over being an ex-pat, I have worked/lived in the US, HK and Europe for periods and I never felt any such compulsion to wallow in faked misery about 'life in the old country' (beyond kicking the odd annoying slobbering daschund :whistling:) Honestly, if you really feel that way, then why not just come back? I guarantee you your 'grass is greener' thoughts would last 6 months at most.
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Not what I meant by "fair weather" fan but apt all the same ^_^ So much for "treasured and betrayed" eh? :whistling:

I'm no fool.

When you're freezing your no doubt pendulous manparts this January, I'll be luxuriating near my pool, shedding a mournful tear as I open my latest Brit-Mart bought PG Tips. There'll always be an England, sniff (suckazzz!).

Back OT, finally I'm not alone, some realism and cold hard truth from D.ick Best...

Oh DBR, for GOODNESS SAKES! Let people enjoy the fact that England are in the Final! Right, well, we're not going to win (though I think anything is possible on the day), and fair dues to the Springboks -- I for one wish them well.

But why this self-torturous, po-faced, mealy-mouthed dose of castor oil whenever we do something well? Blimey, you think if Argentina were in the Final, they'd be this sour about their chances?

No. They're be OVERJOYED, and praying for a win, whatever their weaknesses.

It's almost as if being happy about your country's success, and the madcap exuberance and rah-rah patriotism which follows makes you unhappy. Well poo on you, Sir. Poo.

Thank God, I'm not going to the Playwright's Pub in SoBe for this Final, owned by a perpetually soused Irishman who always calls me Virginia or Veronica.

I might have to schlepp all the way to Ft. Lauderdale to be amongst my own, at the Fox and Hound, and it'll be worth it just for the hugs of joy when Jonny puts another one through the uprights.

INGERLUND INGERLUND INGERLUUUUUUUND!

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Who was the poor bugger who had to make that call?

The TMO was Stuart Dickinson, congrats to the Boks well deserved champions, nullified the England scrum, dominated the line outs and played very disciplined throughout :1a:

England also did very well throughout the tournament and at the start you would have been hard pressed to see them contesting the final and just to show I am not still annoyed at being knocked out by them...

The Correct Etiquette On Greeting An English Rugby Player

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LOL - I wonder if Dallaglio is slipping him a gram or two in that handshake ;),

Still if I were you, I'd be annoyed (just as I am embarrassed) by some of the crap the English media have been coming out with.

Delusional, unsporting, and jingoistic (see I told you VB) - everything I ranted about....

The standout headline from one of the Murdoch filth rags I noticed was something like "ROBBED BY A BLOODY AUSSIE" :blink: and how England were "on their way to a glorious repeat triumph" :rolleyes:

Shameful in many ways :thumbdown:

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LOL - I wonder if Dallaglio is slipping him a gram or two in that handshake ;),

:lol:

I did read about some of the reactions over there and if someone had to make that call I am glad it was an Aussie :rolleyes:

I think the chance of Stuart Dickinson heading over for holidays at the moment would be as short as Wayne Barnes going off to New Zealand!

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